If the Chicago Bulls go ahead and make the selection most believe they will next tonight in New York, it’s not going to take Commissioner David Stern long to get right to the point of the 2008 NBA Draft: He’ll call Derrick Rose’s name as the first of 60 selections to be made by the 30franchises over tworounds.

From about mid-December on, another freshman, forward Michael Beasley of Kansas State, was the consensus choice to be the No. 1 pick. That was before Rose led Memphis to an unbeaten record and No. 1 ranking for much of the regular season.

It also was before Rose dominated a lot of high-quality point guard opponents en route to a spot in the NCAA championship game, in which the Tigers lost to Kansas in overtime despite Rose’s spectacular play.

Furthermore, it was before the Bulls – because of finishing with the ninth-worst record during the regular season, holding just a 1.7 percent chance of landing the first selection – hit pay dirt on May 20 when the selection order of the 14 lottery teams was determined.

Landing the opportunity to select Rose, a McDonald’s All-America at Simeon High in Chicago last year, was the Bulls’ equivalent of being told you’ve been granted a credit card that will enable you to buy gasoline at 39.9cents a gallon for the next 12 or 13 years:

Rose is the best point guard prospect in a draft since Deron Williams and Chris Paul were the third and fourth selections three years ago by Utah and New Orleans, respectively. Rose is the best of the five “point guard-types” who are expected to be among the first 14 selections.

Here are those five, plus a sixth who almost assuredly will be a first-round selection, in the approximate order that they may be chosen:

Rose (6-foot-1 inches, Memphis): In a simple way of describing him, he appears to combine a lot of the best attributes of Williams (strength and power) and Paul (speed and explosiveness).

And he’s got a comparable feel for the nuances of the position in terms of understanding pace, when and where to get his teammates the ball, and when to attack and create a shot for himself.

O.J. Mayo (6-3 , USC): He’ll be a more prodigious scorer than Rose in the NBA but still passes and creates well enough for teammates to be considered primarily a point guard. Miami selects No. 2 and supposedly likes the former Trojan a lot.

Jerryd Bayless (6-1 , Arizona): He did a reasonable job while trying to be the Wildcats’ point guard in his only college season. And, with his explosive first step and especially with the great elevation he uses to launch deep or mid-range jumpers, he has more potential as a scorer. He could be selected as early with Seattle at No. 4 or at No.7 with the Clippers.

D.J. Augustin (5-10, Texas):He’s got good, if not exceptional, quickness and speed, and is a dependable jump shooter. He could go as early as No.6 to New York and probably no later to Indiana at No. 11.

Russell Westbrook (6-2 , UCLA): Westbrook didn’t truly become a nationally known commodity on the college recruiting trail until the spring of his senior season at Leuzinger High of Lawndale. He’s now projected to go as early as No. 6 and, in all probability, no later than No.13 to Portland.

Mario Chalmers (6-2, Kansas): Along with Westbrook, he is one of the two best defenders among guards in this draft. The former “Best in the West” selection from Anchorage jump shoots well enough to play off the ball as well. He’ll be selected somewhere in the late teens to early 20s.

Here are several point-guard types who could be chosen early in the second round: Brian Roberts (6-2, Dayton), Jamont Gordon (6-3, Mississippi State), George Hill (6-1, IUPUI) and Sean Singletary (5-11, Virginia).

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